I just ordered a radiator replacement from Radiator Barn yesterday and am getting ready to do the job. Any last minute tips from those of you who have done it? It looks like a couple of bolts on the upper bracket and some clamps on the upper and lower coolant hoses - I'm just not sure about the transmission hoses. How are these attached? I welcome any advice...

 

I ordered the radiator Sunday morning and it was at my front door when I came home Tuesday.

I drained and saved the old fluid (it was still fresh from a recent water pump replacement). All bolts and clamps were 10mm and there were two phillips head screws for the stock air intake that had to be moved. There were a total of 4 hose clamps, 2 radiator mount brackets, 2 electrical connections for the fans, the over flow tube, and some plastic guards underneath the car that had to be removed. Once I had the radiator out, I moved the fan assembly over to the new radiator (2 - 10mm screws) and dropped the radiator back into place. There are 2 rubber doughnut type mounts that the radiator fits into on the bottom. It ended up taking me longer than it should have because of a clamp that got messed up, but I did the job in 2.5 hours.

I tested everything out today and have no leaks. I definitely would recommend letting everything cool down before starting. I got a burn on my arm from something that was really hot.

I got 208,000 miles out of the first radiator - I hope this one lasts as long!

 

I just did mine last weekend, along with my alternator. I tried doing mine with the car half-way warm too - big mistake. The exhaust manifold stays hot for A WHILE!...

I only got about 170k miles out of mine, it has had a very slow seep for about 2 months now, and my alt has been making noise for over 4months.

I just went ahead and replaced radiator/alternator/thermostat/both radiator hoses/clamps. Car runs great now...

 

Although this may have been done already, a write-up would be nice especially one with pics!

 

the Maxis radiator is going south after 261000 miles and I am contemplating tackling it myself. I have a 93 300zx 2+2 radiator from a previous project and was wondering if that would fit into the Max.

The specs are very similar
300zx
Core Size: 15-3/4 X 27-1/8 X 11/16 Inlet Header: 27-3/16 X 1-3/16 Outlet Header: 27-3/16 X 1-9/16 Inlet Connection: TOP 1-3/8 RIGHT Outlet Connection: BOTTOM 1-3/8 LEFT Transmission Oil Cooler: YES Engine Oil Cooler: NONE Mounting: Notes: ONE ROW, ALL METAL
Maxi
Core Size: 15-3/4 X 27-5/16 X 1-5/16 Inlet Header: 27-3/16 X 1-9/16 Outlet Header: 27-3/16 X 1-9/16 Inlet Connection: TOP 1-3/8 DRIVERS SIDE Outlet Connection: BOTTOM 1-3/8 PASSENGERS SIDE Transmission Oil Cooler: YES Engine Oil Cooler: NONE Mounting: Notes: TWO ROW, ALL METALanyone have any suggestions?

 

Yes it will. but it is common knowledge on the 300ZX forums that the Max radiator is a litle larger capacity, but the same dimensions. So the NA 300ZX guys use the Max radiator as an upgrade. Now you can make an informed decision.

 

Any of you had the koyo rads. from the GD forum? I bought one from there about a year ago from importrp. It fits perfect and was an excellent deal!!

 

The radiator that the NA 300 guys use is from the 3rd gen Maxi... I did not know if there were major changes from platform to platform.

 

I just installed KOYO radiator for the GD, it fit right up with no issues. I've managed to get 157k out of the stock OEM radiator. I wonder what brand of radiator the Radiatorbarn sells.
I bought one from them while back for my brothers 97 Olds Aurora, and it was a quality product. I wanted to go with them again, but somehow the GD convinced me to go with KOYO. (which is made in Indonesia BTW)

 

don't forget to keep burping the system and keep checking the fluid level once everything is done, squeeze the hoses too. it takes a little bit to fully get all the fluid back into the system.

 

I have a Koyo radiator in my 300zx, which is basically a parts car now. When i was installing it in the Z it looked like it had a place to tap a hole for the smaller rad hose that I believe goes to the automatic tranny, my question is what would I need to get to properly tap this hole and attach the hose in place?

This is for a 93 Max GXE, VG30E
Chalzor

 

http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...a-1989-1994-8/

And why not get the correct radiator for the car? Just because the header has the spots for a trans cooler connection, there may or may not actually be a trans cooler in the radiator core.